Reduced budgeting cycles from months to weeks
Empowered managers with trusted, data-driven insights to support growth and scenario planning
Eliminated manual consolidation across finance and operations
The Challenge: Budgeting and Reporting That Can't Keep Up With Growth
EW Facility Services is a leading cleaning and facility management company that has grown rapidly from its roots in hotel cleaning into healthcare, high-traffic, and other sectors. Alongside this expansion, the finance team faced increasing complexity in budgeting and reporting, all while relying heavily on disconnected Excel spreadsheets.
Every department and every territory (direct and indirect) manages its own files, which made consolidation slow, error-prone, and difficult to trust. This challenge intensified during the company’s transition from a legacy accounting system to AFAS (a cloud-based ERP and HR platform), a move that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. Fluctuating demand, staffing disruptions and inconsistent data patterns made it difficult to establish stable reporting structures.
“Everything was mixed up,” recalled Marlie Vermazeren, Manager Shared Service Center at EW Facility Services. Discounts varied, invoices were delayed, and teams were working remotely under constant uncertainty. It took months to stabilize reporting, and the finance team needed a better way to regain control and support the business with confidence.
As EW continued to grow, it became clear that spreadsheets alone could no longer keep pace. The team began searching for a planning platform that could scale with the business while remaining accessible to users across the organization.
Guiding the Business Through Trusted Data and Insights With Vena
EW Facility Services selected Vena for its familiar Excel-based interface combined with centralized data, automation, and governance. The priority was clear: support rapid growth without adding complexity. Because teams were already comfortable with Microsoft tools, Vena was ideal. They could work in Excel while benefiting from structured workflows, version control and built-in safeguards.
Implementation centered on rebuilding processes with discipline and momentum. Through focused working sessions, EW Facility Services’ team worked with Vena to break old habits, starting with new core models, and layering in complexity over time. Clear ownership and defined roles accelerated adoption, with budget holders maintaining accountability for their inputs.
And with Vena's integration with Power BI, the team gained real-time dashboards that eliminated the need for manual report building. Instead of consolidating spreadsheets, EW Facility Services’ finance team now concentrates on modeling, analysis and identifying areas for improvement
With Vena in place, budget cycles that once took months are completed in weeks, even for budgets exceeding €50 million. A single business controller can manage a €50 million budget in four weeks, allowing them to shift their time from consolidation to uncovering insights.
The organization can now also respond more quickly to change. For instance, Finance can assess the impact of variables such as occupancy rates or labor costs and adjust plans with confidence. At the same time, trust in the numbers has strengthened across the business, as leaders rely on consistent, traceable data.
Looking ahead, EW Facility Services is continuing to refine scenario analysis and indirect cost allocation across business units. Questions about risk, demand shifts or operational changes are now addressed through structured planning rather than manual workarounds, enabling the finance team to guide the business forward with clarity and control.
EW is a growing company, and Vena bridges the gap between scenarios and control.”